Enermax 3.5" Thermal Monitor

Installation

For a test box to install the Enermax Thermal Panel, we used my LAN party rig which is an Antec LANBOY.  As you would expect, installation was no more complicated than installing a floppy drive.  Nothing was found with the unit’s dimensions that would be problematic for fit in most any case.  The panel’s color blends in quite nicely I think.

  

How to work it

The controls consist first of two small rheostats on the left side of the unit to control resistance to the power lines coming out of the panel's rear.  This allows you to adjust the fan speed of two fans (or whatever you like) to better meet the machines cooling / noise needs. 

On the panel's right side are three buttons, mode, set, and reset.  The mode button allows you to shift the display back and forth between Temp/Fan speed reading 1 and Temp/Fan speed reading 2.  The set button provides for trip levels to be set for fan speed or temperature.  If these values are exceeded a small alarm goes off for 30 seconds.  The alarm cuts off if the reading goes below the trip value or as we just said after 30 seconds.  This alarm is the first sensible alarm I've seen in a while.  Most alarms are more akin to a car horn with how loud they are.  The Enermax alarm wasn't too much to cause your spinal column to decalcify but it was loud enough to get your attention.  These trip settings have a range of 40' C to 80' C in 5' increments for temperature and a range of 1000 to 5000 RPM in 1k increments for fan speed.  Depressing the reset button sets the trips at their default of 55' C and 1000 RPM.

Taking a closer look at the unit’s display we can see that the blue LEDs provide more than ample illumination.  Readings from the two thermal probes and two fan connectors are displayed in pairs as shown below.

Conclusion

The 3.5" Enermax Thermal  Monitor gets it all right.  Small compact size is way up on the list.  It fits out of the way in that traditionally unused floppy drive bay most all cases have.  The ability to preset the alarm temperature / fan settings on such a large range (40-80'c) is nice but it would have been nicer to see the fan RPM range brought up to 7k instead of 5k.  Attention to detail was not lacking on this product.  If you want direct control over just a couple of fans while being able to monitor two temperature points, the Enermax Thermal Control Panel may be what you're looking for.  We want to thank Sidewinder Computers again for making this review possible.

Pros

• Ease of fan control

• Blue backlit LED display

• Adjustable temperature / fan speed alarm trip levels.

• Blends in nicely with any aluminum colored case.

• Plenty of line for probes and power out cables.

• Fits 3.5" bay.

• Alarm won't wake the neighbor's dog.

Cons

• LED display could be a little bolder for easier reading.

• 5000 RPM max on fan monitoring.

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